Old Friends in a New Age
by Veilwuarrah
Summary: Modern day. The reunion of Merlin and Arthur doesn't go quite well. Inspired by, and based on the first chapter of the brilliant "Say Live and Let Die" written by Ultra-Geek. Post 5x13. Might want to read that one first ..


**I'm posting this with the kind permission of Ultra-Geek. The fic was inspired by, and based on the first chapter of the brilliant "Say Live and Let Die" written by her. (You might want to read least the first chapter before reading this).**

**Also, a ****_huge(!)_**** thank you to TeganL74, for doing such a wonderful job as my beta on this! ~Thank you! **

**So here goes.. *gasp* ..Hope you like.. Enjoy~**

.*.*.*.

"_I can't believe this!"_ It seemed Gwaine was going to rip all his hair out and then punch anyone senseless who would attempt to calm him down.

_Technical issues. Emergency landing. And the team found themselves in Wales, in a small, rundown airport –_ so run down in fact that no-one was around, besides a couple of small private planes and a confused old mechanic, who soon retreated again, once the blonde man introduced himself, told him of their situation, and that they needed no help.

"I had important plans! _Very_ important plans!"

"Shut up, Gwaine! We don't like being stuck here any more then you do," Elyan snapped at him.

_"FINE!"_ The man punched the air and stormed off.

"Gwaine..!" Arthur called after the man in a warning tone, while pinching the bridge of his nose. However, he was pretty sure it would have no effect.

"Call me when the damn thing is working again!_ I need a drink!"_ he yelled back, not even looking behind, and soon vanished in the darkness.

There was a pinkish streak along the dark blue skyline to the east, as if hinting that dawn was nearing, but the area was still quiet and shadowy. They stood around waiting.

Arthur peered after Gwaine, rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. He really wasn't in the mood for this now. He was annoyed and tired and he had no doubts that the others felt the same way. Except for that sword of course. The object, which now lay in a casket on board, kept poking at the back of his mind for some reason, and he felt really weird being around it, but he said nothing of it to his men.

Arthur motioned to Leon to go after Gwaine; if not for any other reason than to keep him out of trouble. Then he saw Lance holding his palm out with a smirk and Percy slapped a bill into it, with a rather annoyed look and a head shake.

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "What was that all about?"

"We made a bet to see if Gwaine was going to _'need a drink'_ before sunrise. I said he would, Percy said he won't."

"That was a careless bet, Percy," Elyan remarked with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah.."

Arthur snickered. Looking back at their ride, his smile faded though.

"How long, Mouse?" he directed the question at the mechanic, or rather at the parts of the young man that were actually visible from under the machine.

"Not sure, chief; couple of hours maybe.. I just don't get it. It was working fine last night."

"Sabotage?"

"Doubt it. I didn't leave the thing since yesterday," he replied.

"Alright. Then we wait." Arthur sighed. "Might as well get some sleep," the blonde said, but then realizing where they were, he got the sudden idea to visit an old friend. He was about to inform the others about his intention, when he heard the nearby bushes shift and a peculiar figure stumbled out; looking around, confused. Arthur eyed him curiously, until the tall man turned in their direction and froze for a moment, then started to walk towards them with ever hurrying steps; a wide smile on his face and a cylindrical casket dangling at his side.

.*.

"Professor." He smiled.

"Arthur! What a pleasant surprise! Haven't seen you in a while." The elderly man hugged him, patting his back.

"Nice to see you too. Doing well?"

"As always!" He laughed. "How are you? How's your father?"

"Good, good," the man mumbled, not meeting the old man's eyes.

"Ah, still the same I presume?"

"Pretty much." He grimaced at him.

"He's still your father, you know.."

"I know, he's just hard to put up with at times," he said, and shifted on his feet. "Well, most of the time.."

"And your sister?"

"Oh, Fay's good too. Always up to something. You know her.." He felt a little uncomfortable being questioned about his family, and his old friend figured it out pretty fast.

"So, Arthur, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise? I'm pretty sure you didn't come all the way here, especially here, just to see me," he said with a knowing smile, and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, don't be like that," the young man said defensively. "Well, originally I did, and I did call you at home, and since no-one answered, I guessed this was the only place you could be, but… now I have a bit of a problem."

"Are you in some kind of trouble?" The man leaned in.

"Yeah, you could say that. There was this guy I came across who was acting really weird, saying he knows me."

"So?"

"I thought he was drunk at first, figured I'd have him stuck in a cell downtown for him to cool off, but he's not acting quite like he is; doesn't even smell of booze."

"So you brought him _here_?" the professor asked incredulously.

Arthur shrugged and smiled at him sheepishly. "He went on; rambling about prophecies and destiny, swords and Albion, and called me 'King'. So you could say it's fine to have him come by. Besides I didn't have any other ideas; the guy practically jumped on me, and oddly he knew Lance, Percy and Elyan too, even calling them.. 'Sir'. He gave Lance a great big hug; telling him how glad he was to see him. Even gave a fright to Mouse too, though he called him Degan.. or.. Daegal or something."

The professor giggled.

"This isn't funny, _Cai_us!" Arthur hissed.

"I know.. but still it kind of is."

"My parents had a weird sense of humor, naming my sister 'Fay' and calling me 'Arthur'. I always knew one day it would come around and bite me on the arse."

"And your team does have a collection of names from the Knights of the Round Table."

Arthur went quiet, and the professor looked at him; furrowing his brow.

"What?"

"Funny. He said his name was _Merlin_."

.*.

"_Hey!_ Stop it! I swear to God, I'll fucking kill you if you break it!" Arthur snapped at the man on the backseat of the car, who currently was preoccupied with kicking the car door as hard as he could.

_"Let me out!" _he roared.

Arthur unlocked the car and opened the door, and the dark haired young man scurried out of it.

"What did you do that for? I can't even get out of these!" he snapped.

"They are handcuffs, you are not _meant_ to get out them!"

Arthur grabbed him by his arms and turned him around. "I want you to meet someone," he said, as he unlocked the cuffs.

Merlin eyed the building, then wiped his nose carefully; there was still some blood seeping from a punch he'd received, before the _'knights'_ decided to cuff him and toss him into the car they'd managed to borrow.

"Here?.." he asked suspiciously, rubbing his wrists.

"Yes. Come on." Arthur grabbed his elbow and started to drag him to the entrance. He couldn't explain why, but he just wanted his old friend to see this fellow. He felt he _had_ to bring him here. However, upon spotting a few things inside, like the white walls and a wheelchair, Merlin started to get tense.

"Arthur, I'm not crazy," he said, pulling his arm away and stopping in his tracks.

"That is debatable. You jump me, say you know me, harass my team.. I don't even know how you know my name! Or theirs. And babble on and on, and then.." But the young man wasn't paying attention to him at that moment, and Arthur turned to look at what he was glaring at.

The professor walked up to them slowly, with his hands in his pockets in a calm and relaxed manner.

"By the Gods.." Merlin mumbled, his eyes getting teary. "Gaius! It's so good to see you! I missed you so much!" And with that, the old man found himself getting hugged by the lad; causing no little surprise.

"Hey _hey_! Would you _stop_ that?!" Arthur snapped at him; getting really frustrated and practically peeled the dark haired one off the professor.

"I'm sorry young man, do I know you?" Caius asked, staring at him.

"Gaius.. it's me! Merlin," he said hopefully, but then his smile faded. "You.. you don't remember me either.. do you?"

"No one knows you, buddy, now stop it with the_ hugging everyone_," Arthur growled, but felt kind of bad on seeing the slight shade of anguish that shadowed his expression.

Caius looked at the young man, and felt somewhat confused about his appearance. Throughout his years, he had met a lot of people, so after a while he just didn't bother with names or faces. This boy, however, seemed familiar.

"What happened to your face?" the older man asked eventually, though it wasn't the question he originally intended to pose, but some unexplained concern pushed forward.

"That.. would be me," Arthur said a little guiltily. "We sort of got into a fight the first time round."

Merlin wiped at his nose again, observing the redness on the back of his hand. It wasn't hurting as much anymore.

"Come on, you should have that checked." The elderly man motioned for him to head off to a room.

"I'm fine," Merlin said with a firm tone. He was becoming increasingly agitated by the situation and whole place. It was all new and unexpected, and he admitted to himself that his emotions were getting the better of him. The wait had been long - too long to not affect him. He needed these people to believe him, to trust him, and remember, but he had no idea how to achieve that, and for now he was just happy to see them;_ too happy for his own good, obviously._

"Come now.." The professor gently gripped his elbow.

"I _said_ I'm fine," he said again, tugging his arm away from Caius' grip.

"Alright. Alright." He smiled; backing off and holding his hands up. "No harm done."

Merlin looked at Arthur, and couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that was growing in him.

"Tell me, what is your name?"

"Merlin."

"Nice to meet you, Merlin. My name is Caius. Where are you from?"

The young man stared at him for a while, contemplating an answer as he bit his lip. Saying _'Ealdor'_ or _'Camelot'_ always brought incredulous expressions on to the faces of whoever he was speaking to. It was quite a while ago, after all, that those places were known; _or existed. _And since, thanks to some unexplainable spell, he looked like his younger self again, no-one would believe the amount of years he had behind him.

"I'm from around," he mumbled. Arthur could sense how tense he was, and more so that he was lying through his teeth.

„How old are you?"

„I'm.. old enough." Merlin felt his cheeks redden a bit, upon realizing he didn't really know the answer.

"Why are you here?" Caius asked, keeping a friendly posture and eye contact with the man.

Merlin pursed his lips, glancing at Arthur. He figured he couldn't answer with anything else but the _truth._ Maybe.. maybe the truth would wake them up to their old selves, and they would remember or realize he wasn't lying. It was different, it was important.. yet he felt his excitement wasn't helping him.

„I'm.. here to serve my king. I was protecting the resting place of.. the King of Camelot. Waiting for his return. Now the time has come for the Once and Future King to return to the land. Albion's time of need is here."

„And you think Arthur is that king?"

„He is."

„What makes you so sure?"

„I know he is. I know him," he replied with a hint of hurt.

„Listen, buddy, I _don't_ _know_ you!" the blonde cut in.

„Arthur, please," Caius tried to calm him, but the dark haired man obviously got upset by the statement.

„You have to, Arthur.. You have to believe me!" Merlin couldn't help but get anxious about it, and found himself gripping onto Arthur's sleeve. „Try and remember! You accepted me, you accepted my magic."

„I did what?!" Arthur snapped back, and he was trying to peel the madman's hands off him. „Theres no such thing as magic, you idiot."

Merlin felt something move in him, and a wave of uncomfortable warmth swept through him, leaving him dizzy, but it was gone again in the next minute. However, he had to blink a few times and shake his head. „Yes there is," he said slowly, and let go of him. „And you accepted it. I'll prove it!" he said with a sudden idea, and he held his palm out. **_„Forbearnan."_**

Nothing happenned.

The two men looked curiously at his hand, then at Merlin, as he stared at his outstretched palm with utter confusion.

„**_Forbearnan!"_**he said again, a bit louder, and with a slight shake of his hand, as if to encourage the spell, but still nothing. _Now_ he was _really_ getting nervous.

Arthur looked up at him, and was about to open his mouth and say something, when his breath got stuck in his throat when the young man tried again to prove his point.

**_„Forbearnan!"_** Arthur could have sworn his eyes seemed to have had a golden flash, just for a split second, even if nothing else happenned.

„Merlin.." Caius put his hand on the young man's shoulder, causing him to jolt suddenly, and shove him back a little more roughly then he intended to, but Merlin didnt notice; he was in too much of a shock.

„I dont understand," he panted, holding his head. „I just.. dont understand why.. it was working.. I have magic..." he mumbled, and the situation was really getting out of hand. - „You have to believe me Arthur! I dont know why its not working!" He grabbed onto the blonde again, clear panic in his eyes. „You have to believe me! You're the Once and Future King!"

"Calm down, Merlin," Caius said, with a hint or warning in his voice. "Or I will have to take measures."

_"Don't tell me to calm down!"_ he snapped at the old man. "Something's wrong!" It was a simple spell, it should have worked; there was no Morgana now, but there was no crystal cave either. "Something's.. very wrong!"

Caius motioned with his hand, and two well built men started heading in their direction from the other end of the hallway.

The young man noticed as well.

Merlin held his hand out towards them, and Arthur suspected something was supposed to happen, as after a little pause, Merlin picked his head up slightly in confusion.

**_„Awendap eft wansaeliga neatu!"_**

But again, nothing hapenned.

With growing dread, he took a few steps back.

„Calm down, buddy," one of them said, but the warlock probably figured the only way out was by force. So even though the caretakers only stepped closer, he swung his arm and landed a punch on one of them; sending the man staggering back, with hands on his bleeding nose. There was no excuse after that, and Arthur jumped in as well to tackle him; grabbing and twisting an arm behind him, until the man fell to his knees, and agent Pendragon couldn't shake the awkward feeling of deja vu about it. Soon, another caretaker appeared, and it took no time for the muscly ones to subdue him and pin him to the ground.

_„No! Let me go!"_ He was screaming and trying to get loose but to no avail. Caius stepped in as well, taking something from his pocket, and knelt down next to him. All the while, Arthur just backed away and stood by; frozen, watching on.

_"No.. no_! you have to believe me! _Arthur!"_ he screamed, pleading, and the man was somewhat taken aback about the whole scene that was unfolding in front of him. Everything about it seemed so unreal. _That golden flash.. Did he really see it? And what could it be?_ He had the impression the young man was going to break under the two meat towers holding him down.

"Nh… noo.. h.." he groaned with a last effort, before he went limp and calm under the grips of the two caretakers, as the sedative took its effect.

"Alright.. take him in there," the professor said, pointing to a nearby door. He gripped the corner of a table, then pulled himself to his feet with a groan. "I'm getting too old for this," he mumbled, tossing the syringe in a bin along the way, as they followed the two caretakers who were carrying the unconscious figure between them into a dim ward.

Arthur, a little shaken up, remained at the back, letting them do their job. He stared at the young man being put on a bed, and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him.

"Is that really ..necessary?" he asked, and the professor paused for a minute, then continued to secure the buckle on the oblivious man's wrist.

"Better to be safe than sorry. I wouldn't want him attacking anyone when he wakes up. He might have said he knows us, but I fear what he might do, should he spot someone he considers an enemy."

Arthur nodded. That made sense. "So.. what do you think?" he said.

"I don't know what to think. He clearly is delusional. But it could very well be the effect of some drug. You know how it is nowadays," the professor said, putting a hand on his forehead. "He does feel a bit warm," he remarked. He pulled his eyelids up one by one, checking his eyes with a light he pulled out from his coat pocket, then he felt around; pressing his fingers against the side of his neck, but noticed nothing unusual. Caius grabbed the young man's sleeve and pulled it up, revealing a skinny arm; he did the same with the other arm.

"No needle-marks," Arthur remarked.

"True. But we can't know for sure, unless we test him."

"Then do so," the young man said, not taking his eyes off Merlin.

"And once the sedative wears off, we can restart this conversation and find out more. Maybe he will snap out of it."

Arthur nodded, looking on; somehow he had doubts about the latter.

"There is something about him," he said.

"Yes.. there is. There certainly is. How in the world did he know my name?"

They stared at the young man.

"Take care of him. Expenses on me."

"Arthur.." Caius looked at him surprised.

"Just hang onto him."

"Arthur, you cannot keep a man from his freedom."

"Just.. for a few days. I'll get back to you! I just want to see what I can find out about him," he said, and turned to head towards the exit, when he bumped into a young woman rushing in.

"Oh! Excuse me!"

"Arthur!" she exclaimed when she recognized him.

"Gwen," the agent smiled.

"How nice of you to drop by," she remarked, with an unmistakable edge in her tone, and the blonde man caught her hand before she could go further.

"Oh, don't be like that. You know how my job is."

"There's an invention called a _phone_, Arthur Pendragon," she said, but her hurt didn't seem all that vivid, once the corner of her mouth curved into a slight smile.

"I'll look into that." The man grimaced.

"So what brings you here? Certainly not me."

"Ouch. I was just passing by. Brought in a.. friend of mine." _Why the hell did he say that? _Arthur looked back at Merlin with furrowed brows.

Gwen followed his gaze and she saw Caius fiddling around next to a bed, but was unable to see who was on it.

"Your friend causing trouble, eh?" she said, then turned back to the young man. "Phone, Arthur Pendragon," she said and threateningly poked his chest, then walked into the ward, before the man could say anything else.

"Professor? I heard there was a commotion. What happened?" Gwen asked, and quickly ran a glance across the room, taking note of a colleague of hers tending to the caretaker at the other end, as well as the professor standing next to a bed near a window.

"Just a little ruckus. Everything's fine now," he said with a reassuring smile, turning to face the nurse.

She looked at the bed's occupant and tilted her head in confusion.

"What is it?"

"I don't know.. he.. he seems familiar."

"Does he?" Caius looked at the young man. It seemed too odd to be a coincidence, he figured.

"Jennie?"

"Yes?" The other nurse picked her head up.

"Do you know this young man?"

"No." She shook her head and stepped closer.

"Frank?"

"No way," the caretaker replied, as he got up to leave the room.

"What is it?" the woman next to him asked.

"I'm not sure. He claimed to have recognized me, and Arthur, and I do admit there is something about him."

"It could be drugs." Jennie shrugged.

"Could be, but that wouldn't explain his familiarity to us."

"What are we going to do?"

"We are to keep him for a little while, until Arthur gets back."

"Then we should move him," the nurse said.

"Yes, and please monitor him by the hour, and let me know when he wakes. I'll go have some tests done on this," he said, motioning to a small vile with red fluid in it.

"When was the last time he took a bath?"

"Well, yes.. that's another thing."

.*.

Elyan took his earmuffs off, looking over at Arthur. "Chief. You're distracted," he remarked.

The blonde pursed his lips, while loading his gun, but said nothing at first. "Yeah, I am." He sighed. Shooting practice wasn't going like it usually did.

"It's that feller from Wales, isn't it?" Percy asked from his other side.

Arthur looked at him long, and wondered what to say. "Yeah." He nodded.

"There certainly was something about him." Elyan shook his head, as he started to reload as well.

"What do you mean?" Arthur picked his head up.

"I don't know.. he seemed familiar.. You know, like a feeling of some sort."

The man looked at him furrowing his brows.

After a few more odd missions, agent Arthur Pendragon still had his thoughts wandering back to the peculiar young man they had met on that day. He just couldn't get him out of his head, and sometimes it annoyed him, but other times he just wanted to know what he was doing, and how he was doing.

He looked high and low, but found nothing; as if the man just didn't exist. And any time he talked to the old doctor, he got the same reply, the young man still claimed to have magic and waited for the Once and Future King.

Arthur walked out of the shower, still rubbing a towel over his head, and stopped next to the table in the lounge; staring at the phone on it. He hated coming out empty handed from a search, but this was just one of those searches that left him with nothing. He picked it up and looked up Caius' number, then stared at that too. He got a message from the doctor earlier that day, but hadn't gotten around to answering.

His glance slid across the room. There in the corner stood a dark, leather, cylindrical casket, that all this time he couldn't manage to open, but at the same time, he just didn't feel like reporting it to the agency, or handing it over. He just kept it there, not even bothering to brush the dust off it.

He looked back at the phone screen, and with a new resolve, he pressed down on the green button.

.*.

He sat in an armchair with slumped shoulders, looking at his feet. He looked pale against the dark blue shirt he wore; his short, dark hair unkempt, and poking in all directions. His emotions were unreadable from his face, and his thoughts impossible to guess, but he overall he looked dejected.

"Did you give him something?" the young man asked, watching the scrawny figure through the small window of the door.

"No. He was quite harmless after he woke up. But he's been like that for a while now. And frankly I'm worried."

"It's why you messaged me?" Arthur turned to the professor.

"Yes. Recently, he mentioned he just wants to go home."

"Let me guess; to Camelot?"

"Actually no.. to some hut near the lake of Avalon."

"Lake of Avalon?" The young man lifted an eyebrow.

The older man shrugged. They both looked at the occupant of the room again, who now lifted his head a bit and was staring out the window, but seemingly not looking at anything in particular.

"One thing I did find interesting. He has remarkable knowledge about local history."

"He read the whole library?"

"No.. its more like, memories. He just.. knows."

"How far back?"

"Medieval times."

"Weird." Arthur sighed and looking at the despondent features of the young man. "I couldn't find anything about him, Caius. The man is a mystery."

"Then perhaps it is up to you to solve it. He also said he waited so long, he can wait a little longer. Whatever it is, Arthur, he will listen to you. He will do whatever you tell him to."

Agent Pendragon found himself with a problem he wasn't sure how he would tackle; he just had no idea what to do with the man.

"Time to go, Merlin."

The young man looked at him in amazement, and clearly having a hard time believing the words he heard, gave a wary glance towards the old man standing a few steps back.

"Come on, gather your things and let's go. I'm taking you home."

The young man looked around, puzzled, then grabbed an old jacket off a chair and stepped in to follow the blonde.

Arthur noted to himself how he didn't have anything else with him.

.*.

"The box?" Merlin suddenly asked in the car.

"What?"

"My box. Where is it?"

"It's.. on the back seat. I thought I'd hang onto it."

"Thanks." The young man smiled, turned around to peer behind and indeed he spotted the casket showing from beneath some blanket and a bag. Merlin then turned back to look at the road.

"What's in it?" Arthur let his curiosity get the better of him, and he gripped the wheel a bit tighter as he drove.

"A sword." Merlin could have said 'your sword, Excalibur', but he decided to be much more cautious with the information he gave from now on; learning from where it got him previously. Waking up tied to a bed certainly wasn't worth it.

He was anxious a half an hour earlier, as he got out and asked Arthur to wait for him.

The agent didn't even know why he listened to him. He was frustrated, but he stopped the engine and waited._ Which frustrated him even more._

"We can go." The young man came back after a while, and sat back in the car, putting the seatbelt on.

"Go where?"

"To.. wherever you have to go."

Arthur stared at him, then straightened in his seat to face him as much as he could. "Hang on. You… you can't come with me! I thought you said you wanted to go home."

"I don't have one anymore."

"What? Why?"

"Teenage delinquents." He smiled sadly, not meeting the young man's eyes. "They burnt down my hut."

"I'm.. sorry. I can drop you off somewhere, if you like; some relatives perhaps?"

"I don't have anyone," Merlin said quietly, and suddenly he had that dejected look upon his face again; almost like he was desperate, not to be pushed away. "Only you," he added, barely audible.

Normally, Arthur would've protested, and he did open his mouth to do so, but somehow, he felt really sorry for the lad. "Listen, I don't really understand where all this is going, but I have a life, I have a job.. I don't really know what.." But Merlin cut in before he could finish, and once again his voice was pleading.

"I could work for you. I could be your servant or.. or assistant. Just tell me what to do. I'll do it."

Arthur was lost for words. Here he was, stuck with an obvious madman in his car, who was swearing that he knew him and was now asking for a job. He let out a sigh.

What struck him as even more odd was the fact that his gut feeling was telling him he was doing the right thing. So he turned the keys and started up the engine, and the little blue car quietly rolled onto the road.

.*.

The young man rested his head against the window, looking at the changing landscape without really registering any of it. Merlin has been quiet for the past hour, and Arthur wondered if he had fallen asleep. Peeking at him a couple of times, he could see that he wasn't.

"Are you alright?" he asked carefully. He could somehow sense something was up.

"Yeah." Merlin nodded, but his thoughts were in turmoil. He kept running over the conversation he had with the lady of the lake, while the _faithless-king_ waited in the car.

"Freya.. Freya!"

Nothing.

"Come on Freya!" he asked again, stepping closer to the water, and suddenly a female form emerged from the water and stood smiling at him.

"Hello, Merlin."

He returned the smile. No matter how sad or devastated he had been, whenever he asked for her company throughout the decades, he could never not smile when seeing her. He knew she was out of his reach, but she was still as beautiful as he remembered.

"What's wrong, Merlin?" she asked, cutting off the warlock from his thoughts as he admired her.

"My magic… I couldn't use it."

"Magic needs faith, Merlin," she said.

"But.. I have faith. I have the sword, Arthur is back.. Albion is in need, I need to have magic to help him!"

"You need _his_ faith, in _you_. Only then will you be able to use your magic again. You need him to trust you."

Merlin didn't know how to react to that. It seemed a whole lot harder than getting Arthur to trust in himself at the time. It was.. everything all over again. Gaining the Once and Future King's trust again..

"Have faith, Merlin. What was lost has now been found." She smiled, and the next minute she vanished.

_Have faith._ Merlin repeated it in his head. And it seemed it was the hardest task he had ever gotten.

"Come on.. You can't lie to me. Something's troubling you," the blonde said.

Merlin stared at him.

Arthur spared him a glance and a nod before turning back to look at the road. "Tell me about that sword."

The warlock was still quiet for a bit, then slowly started to talk. "In a land of myth and a time of magic, our destinies.." And he talked about a land called Albion, a sword forged in a dragon's breath; loyal Knights of the Round Table and a king that was a prat. And he talked on and on, and Arthur started regretting he prompted him to. This was getting too much for his sleepless nights, and they still had a couple of hours' drive ahead of them. While Merlin kept talking about Camelot and whatnot, Arthur kept trying to explain to himself why he was taking the word of a madman, and bringing said madman along with him, and how come none of what he was saying made him nervous, but rather, as if he found something that was lost; something he couldn't imagine how he lived without for so long.

However, it was getting a bit tiring listening to him.

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur sighed.

The silence got unnerving after a few minutes, and he peered to the side to see the young man with a content smile, and Arthur could've sworn he saw his eyes slightly glistening.

"Yes, Sire."

**.*.*.*.**


End file.
